THE BEAST

CHILDREN OF BODOM   frontman   Alexi Laiho 's ashes have finally been buried — nearly a year after his tragic passing at the age of 41. He was laid to rest at the Malmi Cemetery, a large cemetery located in the Malmi district in Helsinki, Finland.

Australian-born music publicist   Kelli Wright , who says she married the musician three years before his death, announced   Alexi 's burial in a social media post on Friday (December 10). She wrote: "Finally, with extremely mixed emotions, I can announce MY late, unconditionally and forever loved husband's ashes were buried yesterday on our 4 th Wedding Anniversary. The family   Laiho   plot is where he was buried.   Alexi   and   Kelli   2005 – eternity".

A large gravestone has been ordered for   Alexi 's final resting place, but it has not yet been installed. Social media posts of   Alexi 's grave show a candle sitting on top of his burial spot.

At the time of his death,   Alexi   was still legally married to his former   SINERGY   bandmate   Kimberly Goss . In January 2021, Finnish tabloid   Ilta-Sanomat   reported that   Laiho   tied the knot with   Goss   in February 2002, and the couple never officially divorced. Although   Laiho   filed for divorce in November 2002, he quickly withdrew the petition and never filed another.

According to Finnish law,   Laiho   and   Wright   would not have been able to legally wed, as   Laiho   and   Goss   had never terminated their marriage.

This past March,   Alexi 's sister   Anna   accused   Kimberly   of holding up the burial process, writing in a social media post that   Goss   was using "her legal rights as a widow, preventing grie[v]ing mother and father [from] bury[ing] their own son. Her selfish and narcissistic explanation is that she wanted to take part in the funeral and still wants to be present when the ashes are buried," she wrote. "But our family does not want this monster anywhere near us."

For her part,   Goss , who lives in Chicago, Illinois, denied allegations that was "a 'gold-digger' who   Alexi   'hated'," explaining that "this can be easily disproven through the beautiful text and video messages he sent me daily, right until the last day of his life. Messages so sweet, yet so heartbreaking at the same time. Heartbreaking because you can see how ill he was. I tried everything I could to help him. I often messaged people in Helsinki to check in on him because I was so worried."

This week,   Anna   told   Ilta-Sanomat   that "the protracted dispute" over her brother's ashes was "over" and that she and the rest of her family welcomed the opportunity to focus on grieving her brother "in a new way."

Alexi   died on December 29, 2020 in his home in Helsinki, Finland. He died of alcohol-induced degeneration of the liver and pancreas connective tissue. Furthermore,   Laiho   had a cocktail of painkillers, opioids and insomnia medication in his system. He had suffered from long-term health issues leading up to his death.

Alexi   and drummer   Jaska Raatikainen   founded   CHILDREN OF BODOM   in 1993, and the band was one of the most internationally acclaimed metal acts in Finland up until their very last farewell concert in December of 2019. Last year,   Alexi   put together   BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT , which recorded three songs and shot one music video, all of which were released posthumously.

Besides   CHILDREN OF BODOM ,   Laiho   had played in such acts as   WARMEN ,   SINERGY ,   KYLÄHULLUT   and   THE LOCAL BAND . Awarded with a   Metal Hammer Golden God   and several other international prizes, the guitarist was also the main star, leading a group of one hundred guitar players at the   Helsinki Festival   in 2015 in "100 Guitars From Hel" — a massive concert piece he composed.